This is developing a crossover aspect; mind you, it was TPTB who relocated Atlantis to Earth! Please don't stop reviewing :-)

Atlantis

The fourth pot of coffee had been drained and the second plate of donuts was but a sugary memory. Jack felt slightly ill - he and McKay had polished those off between them. Carter was too strung out to eat, and she hadn't slept in close on 48 hours. This, combined with the influence of a caffeine-high McKay, was making her jittery as hell.

"We've been through this, Rodney - the bolts appear to enter the target as if seeking it out..."

"No no no, that's not possible. We've excluded the possibility of any intellectual material being present; there's no DNA signature."

"I'm not saying they're alive, McKay, just that they appear to mimic hunt and seek behaviour!"

"Well, from the way you were going on, you'd think they were sentient..."

Jack quietly snuck away from the bickering scientists, and went in search of Daniel.

He was in the commissary, a cooling mug of coffee clasped in his hands as he gazed out the window, blind to the splendour of San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge in front of him. He didn't even notice as Jack slipped into the chair opposite. This was serious.

"Daniel. Hey, Daniel." Jack waved his hand in front of the archaeologists face, causing him to start visibly, and spill his coffee.

"Ah hell, Danny boy, sorry, here, pass me that paper towel."

Together they managed to get the worst of the liquid mopped up, although the rapidly spreading blotch on Daniel's shirt was beyond Jack's expertise. After signing to a passing captain to bring them fresh coffee, Jack turned his attention back to his friend. Daniel was staring out the window again, as unseeing as before.

"Missing your space pirate, eh?"

Jack's words broke Daniel's reverie. He poured a fresh mug of coffee, and grimaced, before taking a sip and sighing rather forlornly.

"She's not my space pirate, Jack." His face showed his ambivalence over whether that was a good or bad thing.

"But yes, I'm worried about her."

Frowning, he pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut - he hadn't slept since the incident on the Hammond either.

"Could've fooled me," Jack commented idly, pulling a sachet of sugar apart and pouring it into a small heap on the table top. Running a finger through it, he glanced up sharply.

"Didn't seem that way in the briefing room a few days ago."

He licked his sugary index finger, earning a disgusted look from Daniel, who exhaled and ran his hands through his hair.

"No, well, I'd just been talking to Teal'c."

There was a pause. Jack raised an eyebrow and made a 'yes, so?' gesture. Daniel drew breath.

"He told me I didn't see Vala, not the person she's become. He said I have my initial image of her stuck in my head, and I can't see past it."

He toyed with his spoon, and looked up.

"He told me how unfair that was."

Silence fell, and lengthened, until Jack felt obliged to say something. He was just venturing forth with "Yeah, well, you know, Teal'c is like our..." when Daniel burst in with "And he's right dammit! For whatever reason, too scared, too stupid maybe, I've not really looked at her in ages."

He subsided moodily. Jack, watching him warily, thought now was perhaps not the right time to reintroduce his analogy of Teal'c as SG-1's Yoda. He was debating his next words when Daniel spoke again, softly.

"And she knows it, too. She told Teal'c that that was the problem." He looked down.

"She said goodbye to him, but not to me. And now she's in the clutches of some lunatic kassa dealer, and I'm here, light years away, doing nothing!" He slammed his hand on the table in frustration; the coffee in the mugs rocked back and forth, but stayed put.

"Hey, hey" Jack reached out, and laid his hand on the other man's arm. He could almost feel the tension coursing through Daniel's veins.

"Mitchell and T will find her - they'll bring her home." He tried to lighten the mood. "I don't hold out much hope for any crook who's picked on our Vala, anyway."

Daniel smiled thinly, and in one swift move drained his coffee mug.

"Yeah, Yeah, you're right. But I tell you, Jack, when she gets back, I'm going to be making some changes around here. Don't know what'll come of them, but this has been a bit of a wake up call."

Jack seized his cue.

"Talking of changes, Danny-boy, I've got something to..."

"SIR!"

Carter's voice, on his handheld, was excited. Jack heaved a martyred sigh, and pressed the button.

"Yes Sam?"

"We think we've got it. So simple, it was staring us in the face, only we didn't realise what we were looking at!" In the background he could hear McKay, twittering just as excitedly.

"On our way, Carter."

He flipped the off switch and poked Daniel on the shoulder.

"Come on space monkey - put your happy face on. Looks like Carter's saved the day again."